A once beautiful flower
Full of fruits and dreams
Now wilts away
From environmental screams
-Joseph Anthony Montefusco
![](https://newspaper.neisd.net/macarthur/files/2012/02/ROSE-300x200.jpg)
The tangible arts of our world such as painting, designing , and fashion are the wilting flowers in the garden of life; the wilting rose gardeners choose to cut off without mercy. Overshadowed by sports and spirit groups, art has diminished into the abyss of fads and unhealthy stereotypical lifestyles.
From the art of fashion to the art of painting, sculpting, and sketching, it seems that the heredity genes of artists Picasso, van Gogh, and Monet have not flourished in the privileged 21st century. Art in the schools has obviously been replaced with the popularity of activities like sports and cheer. The skill to fling a football 45 yards or to execute a round off spring and yell “go team go” is not worth nearly a fraction of the thought and talent it takes to create a masterpiece. Where has art gone? Will it make a major comeback, and if not, could it become extinct?
Art programs across the nation are digressing with unmerciful glee: art programs are not properly funded as they were in the “me generation” (the 80’s). Can the idea of social popularity and desire be held on a higher pedestal than creative thinking and genuine lifestyles? The pressures of the status quo overcompensate for the idea of freedom of creativity and press.
Can there ever be a song promoting the unnoticed and humbly artistic?
Let’s have a toast for the original trend setters, a toast for the artist, a toast for bohemians that bring a worthy smile to our faces, and even a toast for the classically chic fashion icons that put the capital “F’ in fashion.